Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 18 · 2026-09-29

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

The chart below shows the number of households in the US by their annual income in 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

Student answer (Band 5.5)

The bar chart illustrates the number of households in millions in the US by their yearly income in three years: 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Overall, there is a steady growth in the number of households in the highest income bracket, but the low income families remained almost the same order and level in those three years.

In 2007, the amount of households earning less than 25000 to 49000 dollors remained the second heighest, slightly surpassing the families with making less than 25000 a year. Households making more than 100,000 dollors or more reamined on top consisting around 30 million households.

In 2011, the bottom two earning households surged to 28 and 30 million from 25 to 27 million respectively, but the top two earning families dropped slightly.

In 2015, the order is experiencing the same pattern, but there is considerably surge in families who make 100,000 dollors or more in a year.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

The student attempts to address the prompt by summarising the main features of the US household income chart for 2007, 2011, and 2015. However, there are notable inaccuracies in reporting the data. For instance, in 2011, the student states that 'the bottom two earning households surged to 28 and 30 million from 25 to 27 million', whereas the chart actually shows around 28.5 and 29.5 million. Furthermore, the phrasing regarding income brackets is sometimes confused, such as 'earning less than 25000 to 49000 dollors'. While an overview is present, the inaccurate referencing of specific data points prevents the response from achieving a higher band score.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.0

The response is organised into a four-paragraph structure, including an introduction, an overview, and separate body paragraphs for different years. This provides a clear framework. However, cohesive devices and referencing are occasionally mechanical or unclear, such as 'the order is experiencing the same pattern' in the final paragraph. Paragraphing is attempted, but transitions between sentences and ideas lack smooth logical progression, making some relationships between data points difficult to follow.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

The vocabulary used is relatively basic and repetitive, with several spelling errors ('dollors', 'heighest', 'reamined', 'considerably' instead of 'considerable'). Attempts to use less common vocabulary or precise terms for data trends are limited and frequently inaccurate. Phrases like 'bottom two earning households' and 'top two earning families' are informal. Lexical control is weak, and errors in word formation and spelling occur frequently throughout the short text.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5

The writer attempts a mix of simple and complex sentence structures, but control over grammar and punctuation is inconsistent. There are frequent errors in verb tense consistency, subject-verb agreement, and prepositions (e.g., 'families with making less than', 'the amount of households earning... remained'). Punctuation is basic. While some sentences are clear enough to convey basic meaning, the accumulation of grammatical inaccuracies impacts the overall fluency and accuracy of the writing.

See this exact question answered at other band scores. The same prompt compared across bands.

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